In a statement, Apritel said that Portugal "leads the decline in communications prices in Europe", as they fell "1.2% in November compared to the previous month", being the "second largest decrease" in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU27).

With regard to the communications package, which is used by 90.3% of Portuguese households, prices “reduced by 2.2%, while in Europe they were reduced by only 0.1%” and those for fixed Internet services declined by 5.3% , “while in the EU the price variation was nil”, compared to the previous month, refers to Apritel.

“The most recent Eurostat data [European statistics], referring to November 2021, demonstrate once again the strong competitive dynamics of the Portuguese electronic communications market”, stresses Apritel, pointing out that “they are especially significant at a time when the HICP had a monthly increase of 0.3% and a year-on-year increase of 2.6%”.

In the last 36 months, “the competitiveness of the national sector has been strengthened: on average, the price index for electronic communications services (which integrates the HICP) fell by 2.8%, while in the EU27 the reduction was 0. 9%”, highlights Apritel.

“Over the last 12 months this trend has continued, with prices in the EU27 rising by 0.4% and in Portugal just 0.3%”.

Parallel to "this strong price reduction, the coverage rate of high-speed fixed networks increased, reaching a coverage of 91.4% in the third quarter of 2021, which meant a growth of 5.6% in the last 12 months ”, concludes Apritel.